Similarities??

We were under the impression that Izzy and Cooper have very few baby similarities... maybe we were wrong.  These are both 3-monthish photos... early days in the Bumbo seat.

Izzy is 3 months old!

Izzy is 3 months old... and I swear she gets cuter by the minute :)

 Growing like a weed

She definitely went through a big growth spurt this month... it was like she grew out of her 3-month sleepers overnight!  The girl is long and lean, except for her milk belly and chubby cheeks.  She's almost graduated out of her size one diapers, and most of her 3-month clothes are pretty snug.  Her hair is growing a lot, too!  She has a wild 'tuft' in the back which never seems to lay just right.  Up front, you can see the blonde coming in, which of course, makes me so happy.

Eating great

Still a good eater, although she's beginning to enter the distracted phase.  She likes to turn her head if she hears daddy's or Cooper's voice, and leave milk pouring down her cheek.  She has taken a few bottles from me, which was really weird... for both of us I think.  She looked at me with the most peculiar little expression on her face, but must have decided that milk was milk, no matter how she was getting it.  She eats five or six times a day, which is still roughly every three hours.  Now, she won't eat if she's not hungry... which makes for some scheduling challenges every now and then.  But it's not a bad thing, just an 'Izzy thing.' 

Sleeping very well

She has a new bedtime since last month, and we have set up a nightly bedtime routine with stories, snuggles, and feeding--now she goes down between 8 and 8:30, and usually sleeps until somewhere between 5:30 and 6:30, and then she's up for the day.  Although it's early for me since I'm still home on maternity leave, it's a perfect routine to be getting in for when I have to return to work.  We'll see if this pattern continues (who am I kidding?!?!). She sleeps in her crib, and still likes to be velcroed in tight to her sleep sack.  Napping is not her strong suit... she likes to cat-nap for 30-45 minutes, which is currently driving her mother crazy. It's no secret when she's tired, though... it's one of two things she will cry for (the other being hungry). 

Likes

She loves "The Itsy-Bitsy Spider" on her belly, cooing, smiling, blowing bubbles, and her newest favorite is squealing.  Sometimes I think she surprises herself with her loud voice!  Really likes to be held outward now that she has such good head control.  She still likes to be a part of the action.  Has a preference for mommy at the moment.  She is starting to 'play' with toys now, and will often grab them in her hands and bring them to her mouth.  Her favorite toy is a 'crinkly' cow.  Cooper loves when she holds his hand or takes a rattle from him.  Her favorite spot is her changing table, which was her brother's too... it's where she gets her best chatting and smiling done.

Other Fun...

She likes when we hold her in a sitting-up position.  She actually looks proud :)  She now likes the Bumbo seat, too.  She's so strong!  She is really arching her back sometimes when she's laying on her back... we wonder when she'll be rolling from back to front?!?  Looks like she's going to keep those gorgeous blue eyes (thanks to her daddy!).  She smiles with her whole face... eyes get squinty, mouth goes wide, dimples come out, and her cheeks puff up.  She's also starting to blow raspberries--and is trying to imitate us when we do it.  Her tongue is always 'going!'  No giggle-attacks yet, but she does chuckle every now and then.  A few nicknames are sticking now: Smiley, Izzy-Girl, and Sweetie.  She's now reaching out toward the pages in books on her own... I know she'll be turning those pages in no time!  She even 'reads' some of the books with me!

We cannot believe she is 1/4 of a year old already!  She is becoming more and more of a little person each day... 

You want me to nap?!?!?!  You must be trippin' lady!

Trying on Cooper's glasses and slippers

She smiles with her WHOLE face!

Big brother being a big helper

My Smilin' Izzy

I'll love you forever, 

I'll like you for always.  

As long as I'm living, 

My baby you'll be.

Our Wild Waterpark Weekend

Taking a just-turned-two-year-old to a waterpark reminds me to just stop and enjoy the little things.  Cooper was sooooo stinkin excited for our weekend away.  Sometimes I wish I got THAT excited for something:) 

Both kids did great on the 4-hour drive--we stopped about halfway to stretch and grab lunch, and they both slept nearly the rest of the way.  I was worried about Izzy being pent up in her carseat that long, but she was a trooper.  Cooper had plenty to keep him occupied, and he didn't really get bored until the last hour of the way back home.

The trip was an absolute blast for us all.  We got a killer deal on the rooms, and the only snag in the weekend came at about 11:30 Friday night when the fire alarm went off.  The kids were both asleep, I had gone to bed at about 11 to help fight off my cold, and the rest of the crew was still awake playing card games.  To make a long story short, some people (drunks on a prank? kids? who knows...) emptied a fire extinguisher right outside our room, then pulled the fire alarm.  It wouldn't have been half as scary if we didn't believe there was an actual fire near our room... We had no idea until after we started running down the hall, toward the exit, that the thick smoke wasn't smoke at all.  It was the carbon from the extinguisher.  We scurried back to our room and went out to the patio to wait out the 20-minute blaring alarm.  The alarm continued intermittently for the next 30 minutes or so.  We finally got Cooper back to sleep by about 12:45 AM.  Izzy, on the other hand, hardly even flinched the whole time.  After being scooped up from her crib, having her face shoved in my arm while I ran with her, listening to hollering and a shrieking fire alarm, she hardly moved a muscle.

Now for the fun stuff:  the pictures!  We didn't get great photos, but it's tough to photograph a moving target who has a new knack for running the other way when he sees the camera come out...

The excitement was evident the minute we arrived!

Auntie "Mees" and Phil had a fun time making Cooper giggle.

Coop was a little unsure of the slides...

The squeals and the shrieks from this little guy were just priceless.

Just taking a little break with Daddy and cheeseballs.

Dan, with his towel-cape.

He was pulling with all his might!

Working on jumping with Jackie

Izzy got in on a little of the action, too... but she spent most her time checking out the guys from poolside.

Just chillin on the Lazy River

Cooper loved when he could have his own seat in the tube.

Sisters! (And sleeping Izzy)

Our family - January 2012

The New Cry

So I have learned what Izzy's various cries mean... I know the hungry whine, the tired cry, the pissed-off howl, and the "I'm bored" cranking.  Today I was introduced to the Pain Scream.  Broke. My. Heart.  When Cooper was this little, Jeremy came to all his check-ups, but for Izzy's 2-month appointment, I was flying solo.  I prepared myself for the 'silent scream' that we saw in Cooper (you know, huge scream face, but no sounds until a few seconds have passed?).  But it wasn't a silent scream at all.  It was all-out bawling from the minute the needle hit her leg.  Being that I'm not a first-timer anymore, I thought I could handle Izzy's pain a little better... but I still teared up after the nurses left the room and Izzy continued to sob.  Her sobs slowly turned to sad little whimpers, which might have been even worse.  We know she's a little dramatic, but her big fat bottom lip was in all its glory this morning!  Maybe it's that Izzy cries so rarely that it was hard for me.  It usually takes no more than a couple minutes to get her settled down, and this post-shot settling seemed to take forever!

Sorry, honey.  At least you'll never remember this.  My fingers are crossed that you don't run a three-day fever like your brother always did with his shots...

Right now, she's snoozing peacefully, but it took twenty minutes of rocking for her eyes to roll back and her whimpers to subside.

At her visit today, I learned that she weighs 12 lbs. 8 oz (75 %ile), is 23 inches long (57%ile) and has a head circumference of 43 cm (75%ile).  I also was reminded that 20-40 minute cat-naps are very common at this age (there are the lucky few who don't experience this), and there's little we can do to snap Izzy out of this 'fun' little habit she's settled in to... she'll grow out of it.  Yippee.  I can't complain, though.  Izzy is sleeping very, very well at night--always getting one 6-7 hour stretch, and then going right back to sleep for another 3ish hours.  By my definition, it's not sleeping 'through the night,' but all the baby books will tell parents that six hours is classified as sleeping through the night... Bah.  I don't mind one little bit getting up once to feed her at night.  I kind of like it, actually.  It was one of my favorite things about nursing Cooper, too.  The house is quiet and dark, there is nothing around to distract us, and we get to simply snuggle.  Every once in a while, I'll get a satisfied smile, with milk dripping down her cheek, before she slips back to sleep in my arms.  I also know this itty-bitty-baby time goes so fast...  so I'll enjoy it while it lasts :)

The TERRIFIC Two's are upon us!

Watch out, world!  Cooper turned 2 last week!! 

Our little man is vivacious, energetic, goofy, funny, and full of life.  He makes us laugh every single day.  Jeremy and I looked at each other the other day and laughed about how boring life would be without him :)

Cooper,
So much growing, learning, and changing takes place between age 1 and 2 that it's unbelievable to think back to where you were at one year ago.  You bring so much joy to our lives.  We love you to pieces and love being your parents.  Here's what you've been up to lately...

Likes: You still love being outside.  Now that we have a 'real' winter for you, you enjoy playing in the snow, shoveling with dad, making snowballs, getting sled rides, and creating a snowman.  In the house, being in just your diaper is a favorite of yours!  You love animals, especially horses and puppies.  You know lots of animal sounds now, and are proud to go through the whole list.  (Based on one of your favorite books, you think bunnies say, "Boo!").  Trucks and cars outnumber all other toys in our house, and you love pushing them around, loading them up in bins, and organizing them into straight rows.  When we get in the car, you notice all the big trucks like snowplows, semis, and tractors.  You love Manny from the movie Ice Age, Flo from the Progressive Insurance commercials, and Wheel of Fortune.  You don't watch a lot of TV, but when you do, your favorite shows are Dora the Explorer and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.  Books still trump TV for you--Mom and Dad have so many of your books memorized now that we could read them without looking at a single word.  And you make sure we don't skip any pages!  You like when we talk about the pictures, and you are starting to ask more questions about the illustrations (which is very exciting for your teacher mommy!!).

Big helper:  You are a big helper.  If you spill something, you go over to the towel drawer, grab a towel, and wipe up the mess.  You love washing dishes.  You put your dirty dishes in the sink, hold the dustpan when we sweep, hold the vacuum cord, put your milk back in the fridge, and you LOVE LOVE LOVE to help with cooking and baking (sometimes you get really cranky when we don't let you help).

Dislikes: You don't like when we change up your routine, sleeping away from home, staying in a shopping cart for more then ten minutes, being told that you can't help with something, or having a time-out.

Food and Stuff: You will try almost anything, especially if you see mommy or daddy eating it.  Your favorite foods include all fruits (especially berries) and most vegetables (thank goodness!!), cheese quesadillas, fruit snacks, chips, ketchup and all other 'dips', and juice.  You don't really like lettuce or hamburger... but there isn't too much else!

Words: Your language skills have really taken off in the last month.  Since 18 months, when you only had about a dozen words consistently, we've now lost count!  It's exciting to hear you spitting out new words each day!  I love when you ask, "What's that?" or "Where ____ go?"  We also like how you're starting to copy random words, and you try repeating lots of words now (as long as you're in a good mood).  You clearly understand what we're saying, and you are good at following directions (usually). 

Growing: You weigh nearly 30 pounds (75 %ile), are close to 36" inches tall (89 %ile), and your head is 50.4 cm (80 %ile).  You definitely look big for a just-turned-two-year-old.  You wear size 4 diapers, size 6 shoes, and 24 mo/2T clothes fit you pretty well.  Lots of pants are too big in the waist, but 18 mo. pants are too short!  You sleep pretty well each night--about 11 hours--and you still are obsessed with your Nuk to sleep in your crib.  You take one afternoon nap for about 2 hours.  The pediatrician calculates your BMI now, which we find a little weird, but yours is 16 (44%ile).  Yep, you got your daddy's metabolism from what we can tell.  You are only waiting for your two-year molars... you've been doing lots of chewing on your fingers, so maybe they're on their way.

Odds 'n' Ends: You appreciate routine, and life is always easier when we keep things predictable for you.  You are a VERY good big brother--you love giving kisses to Izzy, patting her on the back to burp her, or rubbing her head when she's sad.  You take a while to warm up in new places, but if there are other kids there, it doesn't take long.  About two months ago, we turned your carseat around to forward-facing, you and love your new view.  Your light-up tennis shoes are the highlight of your morning.  You are very good at using your fork and spoon, and you drink well from a regular cup now.  Spills are pretty rare.  We love watching you play and solve problems.  We can see your wheels spinning as you try to 'fix' things or figure out how they work.  You have a weird new interest in baby toys, probably because we have a baby in the house now ;)  You have been 'playing games' at bedtime lately, but you soon realized it was no fun to cry in your crib, or get scolded for throwing out your blankets and Nuk.  You are a real character, and you have found ways to make us laugh.  You're our little comedian!

 

We can't wait to see what your third year has in store for us!!

 

Talk about goofy... you knew you looked crazy and you thought it was hilarious!

Rearranging the pots and pans

Goofy!

Helping with some frosting

Helping with the dishes

Loving Izzy

On the afternoon of your birthday, I took this little video of a typical conversation with you.  It's a little long for our usual blog clips, but I just had to record your two-year-old thoughts.  A conversation with a two-year-old goes in many, many directions! Pictures just don't tell the whole story of YOU...

 

Enjoying a birthday cupcake on your REAL birthday afternoon

And, you're two, not four.  We'll have to work on that.

We had your birthday party last weekend, and it was a blast!  While you were napping, we put a bunch of balloons in your room.  When you woke up, your were pretty excited!!

Your aunts, uncles, and grandparents were here to help us celebrate, and you were spoiled with gifts... books, an airplane, an airport, a ticking potato, clothes, an easel, a bball hoop, more trucks, a picnic table!!  They sure know you!!

Shooting hoops with Uncle Adam

A racecar cake from mom

Happy 2nd Birthday, Cooper!  We love you!